Saturday, April 3, 2010

SlateLookRoofTiles

Imagine, 1200 slate-look tiles to make plus the ridge tiles! I think they are going to look authentic so there is no lack of enthusiasm to have them finished. We made the sandstone flooring with a similar technique that I detailed earlier.

We used grey 1 1/2 m.( 1/16") Bristol art board.

Step 1. Skim the board with drywall/spackle.Step 2. Paint the dry spackle with your colour of choice.Step 3. Mottle the board with dabs of white paint - quickly soften dabs using an old sock or tee-shirt fabric. Step 4. Cut tiles into size. We chose 25x38m. (1"x 1 1/2") an laid the tile horizontally. Take about a third of the tiles and run a screwdriver along the edge to create more dimension - see white portions that are being repainted. Step 5. Soften the cut edges of your tile by rubbing against a rubber gardening glove and repaint the white portions of the tile taking care not to have a build up of paint on the edges. Lay out on newspaper to dry. Dust each tile by wiping with a soft cloth. Now you are ready to draw guide lines on the appropriately coloured undercoat of the roof.

This is not difficult and I fell into an almost manic desire to finish the tiles. However now that the roof is prepared there are lots of things to be considered before we (my reliable and enthusiastic sidekick husband) can finally attach the top floor that includes the roof.

Note: During the experimentation to create the slate look we stumbled upon a wood look result by softly raking the spackle. If it was painted brown or even weathered grey it would make a very nice wood shingle. I have a photo of the result if anyone is interested.

I agree, it really looks like slate. I've been pondering on what flooring to use in my shop, perhaps I'll go for a paler shade of slate or try creating stone, following your instructions. Thanks so much.

I wish I'd thought to add some spackle to the top surface of my faux slate shingles. I used multiple, uneven layers of paint to achieve something akin to what you have there, but the spackle certainly creates a realistic effect - especially with the chipped edges!

Good Morning Ersilia, Thank you for posting the slate roof tiles. I hope it will be helpful to your followers. Now summer has left us and my garden settled for the winter I have begun working on the walls for the closed garden. I will post our technique for the walls soon. I have almost finished the childrens room as well.All the best.Janine

How do you think this treatment would work on provided wood shingles such as those that come with a dollhouse kit? I'd love to have a slate roof, but would like some of the shingles to be fish scale shaped rather than rectangular. I'd love to be able to use some of the pre-cut shingles rather than attempt to cut that shape myself. Thank you again for the tutorial!

Dear Sarah, I am presently traveling in Western Australia and will be back home beginning of September.I think that if you make a thick slurry of drywall mud and colour it slate then paint it on to your provided wood shingles it may look like slate.I do love the fish scale look - did you see the roof that Otterine did on her Haunted House - very clever twist using wood shingles. Hope you come back to read this as I tried to find you to write to you directly but could not find where I could do that. regards Janine

Hi, You could try it in strips but I think that the individual tiles give it more texture. The paint we used was an exterior house paint. No record of the colour, however I do notice that Hobby acrylic paint is often listed as slate. I would always use more than one colour in painting the cardboard as when the individual tiles are placed on the roof it helps make it look more natural. regards Janine

About Me

January 2010
At last, after eight years of sailing our yacht to Australia via North and South America, Galapagos, Marquesas, Societies, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, we have returned to Canada. We came back and forth regularly during the off cruising seasons but always as a temporary stay.
At last, I have unpacked my miniature house, unfinished, I admit but what a treat to put all the treasures into their rooms. Soon I will repack the interiors so that my reliable sidekick husband Bruce and I will be able to complete the exterior.